CONDITION OF THE SUKHUMI-ARMAVIR RAILROAD LINE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R001700050007-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 17, 2001
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: July 19, 1948
• Content Type: IR

1.4.4'11 IQ I ;;.; (ALI
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COUNTRY U33R-(Cducasus)
,
SUBJECT _ Condition of the Sukhlimi.Amavir Rallroa
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE. pki
Line
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IN&
The Railroad Line from Atuavir to Beloreche_Anhya,
[IL/ JO
DATE DISTR. 19, July 1915X1 A
GES 4
NO. OF ENCLS.
U.ISTEn BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
0 a a
1. The distance Tro..1 Ari..avir to Delorechenskaya is %bout 100 kilometers.
There are no tunnels along the entire length of this line. There .re,
however, sal]. railroad bridges, the largest of which lies bout two
kilometers northeast or southeast (sic) of the railroad s4tion at
Delorechenskaya. All the railroad bridges of this section of the
railroad between Ar'aVir and Delorechenska, a were dostroo ed ti
Gems= when they retreated.
the first til..e in Decenber 19
temporary repairs an were supported on wooden piers. The trains
passed over theu at dildnished speed. Russian soldiers were employed
in the repair of these bridges. EMMME ordinary civilian
? workmen. By the summer of 1947. tnese oce*Lu7 bridges had been re-
pieced by steel bridges and the railroad line from Armavir to
Delorechenskaya in iffavrAer 1947 was in good condition.
2. 1111110of the railroad stations between
? orec ems aye, but does recall that there were six or
seven of them. 'The buildings of these stations had been destroyed by
the Germ= during their, retreat, but were being steadily rebuilt.
For this purpose,unskilled. laborers and German prisoners of war were
employed. German prisonere of war working at the
railroad station at Arravir, but insisted that only Russian soldiere
were employed in the repair of the railroad track and the bridges.
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The aailroad Line from BeloreohenskamA2 Tullme
111111,11111111111the length of this section of the railrcad.
aver, total Of seven tunnels, of which the largest is
named Induk. This is the first tunnel which is met as the train goes
from To.apse towards Belorechenskays,
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the length 25X1A
of the tunnel, but ,says that it is a was damaged
? by the sinking 'of the earth beneath it on 16 December 1946. . 1 ay 1947 This
t repaired Russian soldiers and o first
rain nasse through it, at the same tine that
n. 1.: the ik.
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STATE Z
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CONFMENTIAL .71cco.:d-,Ice with the
letter of, 13 Ociel7er 1:-.73 from the
Director of Denim! In:e!i:Gcn3o to the
Archivist of the United States.
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tunnel was damaged, other tunnels were likewise damaged; they were re?
-
paired at the same time as the large tunnel, This section of the rail-
road was in good condition in November 1947. At most points the roadbed
is built on firm ground or on atone.
The Railroad Line from Tuapse to Adler
4. This section was in good condition in November 1947, There are four or
five tunnels in the entire length of this section. In some places the
roadbed is on farm ground and elsewhere it is built on rock fill. All
along this section of the line,the eastern side consists of bluffs and
hills; but at many points on the western side there are 'sells serving
as breakwaters, for the line runs along the Black Sea for most of its
length,
5. There are three small and unimnortant railroad etationo along this .
section of the line0 station at Lazarevskaya and
ono at Sochi. The station at Lazarevskaya is located beside a small
river.- The railroad bridge which crosses thia river has two arches.
The station at Sochi has a building for passengers with a ticket
window and also a warehouse for merenandise; there is also a mall shop for
engine repairs and maintenance.. There are three sidings at Lhe Sochi
station,
6. The Adler station is smaller than the one at Sochi, but it has more
sidings andAlarger freight sneds. At this station source observed
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that in the spring of 1947 the unloading of iron pipes was begun. They
were six to eight meters long, .01-.02 meters thick, and had a diameter
of about 1,5 meters. These pipes were carried by rail, but
25X1A where they came or what their purpose was. Th pipes
were un oa e in the open on the west side of the track near t
25X1A seashore. Adler on the train in November
19470 200 of the pipes were on the siding The length of the pipes
was such that they could be loaded on ordinary flat cars.
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The Railroad Line from Adler to Sukhumi
The total length of this section is about 150 kilometers, Petween
Adler and Sukhumi there are railroad stations in the following order:
Veseloe, Ermolovka (or Novigorod), Pilenkovo, Stary Gagry, Novy Gagry,
Bzyb, Chornayaretska, Belayaretska, Oudauty, Primorskaya, Novo Afonski,
and Esher7.
The Veseloe station lies beidea small river which is spannad by a
railroad bridge about 150 meters long, This river is a dashing torrent.
The piers of the bridge are of concrete. The bridge is covered with
planks at both ends, Armed Russian troops guard it. The station at
Ermolovka is mall and hae no sidings. There is a small etream near
the station which is only six to eight meters wide but very deep.
The station at Pilenkovo is small, but has large tobacco warehouses,
Here, too, is a email stream with a small teel bridge. There are
also railroad sidings.
From Pilenkovo to Stary Gagry the tracks are laid on firm ground. There
are hills to the east of the line, but to the west of it there are stone
breakwaters. Between Pilenkovo and Stary Gagry there is a small river
named Kholodnaya Retska, northeast of the railroad line. A villa built
in the pine woods here is used by Stalin occasionally during the summer0
inhabitants of (Wegion said that in October 1947
Stalin spent several days in the villa ArippmcaLpn to Sukhumi.
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10. There is a small station at Novy Gagry for freight trains, It includes
a warehouse, At Bzyb a new railroad station andwarehouse are being
built by ordinary laborers0 Beside this station is the Dzyb River,
which is bridged by a span more than 200 meters long. The railroad
bridge has five piers and is built of wood. In 1947 work was begun on
replacing it with a steel bridge. Both ordinary workmen and soldiers were
employed on this construction.
11. The station at Chornayaretska is small and was built during the war on
the right bank of the river of the same name. A. small railroad bridge
spans the river. There are two sidings and a water tank for the engines,
no other facilities.
12. The station at Belayaretaka is small and built on the right bank of the
Belayaretska. River, whicl is spanned by a steel railroad bridge about
400 meters- long. At a short distance from the railroad bridge is a
two-lane wagon bridge about fifty meters in length; it has steel supports
and is surfaced with asphalt laid over planks.
13, There was no station at Gudauty in December 1947. Tickets were sold in a
railroad car, Construction of a stone station was begun, however, at this
time. Ordinary workmen were employed in this construction. At that time
there were three sidings, but all indications pointed to the construction
of a large station on the north edge of the eitya Within the city of
Gudauty there are the following industrial establishments needle factory,
liquor factory, vodka distillery, wine factory, tobacco warehouses and ?
curing sheds, brick factory, factory for the preliminary processing of
silk. After the war, work was begun on the construction of a large
automobile factory, According to orders from 'oscow, this factory was to
be completed by 1950.
The stations at Primorskaya (formerly called Petropaviovka) and Novo
Afonski (formerly Psyrtskha) are small and unimportant. There are no
buildings at the railroad stop of Eshery, and. there are no sidings there.
Construction of a station commenced in 1947 This station will be about
four kilometers west of the bridge over the River Bumista (or Yyumisdere),
Ballast Used on the Railroad Line
15c, From Sukhumi to Eshery the ballast is, hard earth. From Eshery to Novo
Afonski the track is laid on sand and gravel, but isnot very stable
For this reason a branch line is being built to the northeast through a
hilly region; two tundels are already. under Construction. One was
virtually completed in November 1947.' From Novo Afonski to rrimorskaya
the track is laid on sand and gravel almost as far as the station at
Primorskaya. For one kilometer past Primorskaya, the ballast is of stone
and the track is built on a stone causeway along the sea. The causeway is,
two to four meters above sea level. Along the whole length of this cause-.
way the ground to the northeast of the railroad line is steep and likely
to slide. The fallen earth has to be cleared away by companies: of men,
14.
16: From the end of the. causeway, the ballast: as far as the
River Adsi is of hard earth, but from there to Gudauty it consists of a
fill of sand and gravel. From Gudauty to Gapry1J-e ballast is of bard
earth. From Gagry to the station at Pilenkcio the track is laid on a
ten-kilometer causeway running along the seashore, Toward Bilenkovo the
embankment is higher and on the northeast side, away from the sea, there
are cliffs The line has no tunnels and makes no tarns.
,siier,,E
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Frequency of Service (November 1947):
17. At 2200 hours a passenger train froM Krasnodar passed through Sukhumi
on its way to Zugdidi; on its return trip to Krasnodar it again passed
through Sukhumi at 2200 hours (i.e., presumably the following day).
At 0100 hours and again at 0500 hours a passenger train passed through
Sukhumi en route from Tiflis to Moscow. At 1500 hours a passenger
train reached Sukhumi from Tiflis, turned around, and weut back to
Tiflis. The train had three coaches,
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lt+. At 1800 hours a passenger train arrived in Sukhumi :rom 1.atum; Suld'umi
was the terminus of the run, and the train returned to M.tum from there.
The train usually had thirteen coaches carried mail, ard was diesel
-
powered. the movement of freight
trains thougn wmum, butsays that three or four passed through daily
in each direction.
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